What makes a disaster film worth watching? A disaster movie should contain events that make people sit on the edge of their seats wondering whether the people will survive the calamities or not. It should give them chills and thrills at the same time and get the watchers so invested that they keep watching the same genre of films again and again.
If you are someone who loves watching films about death, destruction, and extinction, whether they are caused by natural calamities like an earthquake and tsunami or man-made disasters like a virus outbreak or astronauts stuck in space, then we have curated the perfect list of disaster movies just for you.
1. World War Z (2013)
World War Z is an action horror film about an ex-United Nations investigator Gerry Lane and his family as they find themselves stuck amidst a zombie apocalypse. They take shelter in an apartment along with a couple and their son before being rescued by Thierry Umotoni, the United Nation’s Secretary General.
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There Andrew Fassbach, a virologist, tells them that a virus is infecting people, causing them to turn into zombie-like creatures. Thierry asks Gerry to accompany Andrew to find the origin of the virus so that a vaccine can be created for it in exchange for keeping Gerry’s family safe in the vessel.
The rest of the film follows Gerry, Andrew, and a Navy SEAL as they travel to different countries like South Korea and Israel to find a cure for the virus and save the world. World War Z stars Mireille Enos, Brad Pitt, Matthew Fox, Daniella Kertesz, David Morse and others.
Where to watch: Vudu, Prime Video
2. Independence Day (1996)
Independence Day is a science fiction film that tells the story of 2nd July 1996 when David Levinson, a satellite technician, finds strange signals and, after decoding them, finds out that an alien invasion is about to happen.
On 3rd July, the alien species land in several countries, killing millions of people. One spaceship crash at Rowell, near Area 51 houses, where the government captures and kills the aliens, but before that, they find out what their mission on earth was.
On July 4th, the humans decide to fight back against the aliens in order to survive and free themselves. A fight against two different species for independence. It stars Bill Pullman, Will Smith, Mary McDonnell, Jeff Goldblum, Randy Quaid, and others.
Where to watch: Disney Plus, Prime Video
3. On the Beach (1959)
On the Beach is a post-apocalyptic film about the survivors of World War III when most of the Nothern Hemisphere was destroyed. The film revolves around Captain Dwight Towers, who receives a Morse code and is ordered by the U.S. Navy to find out where it came from.
Towers, along with his men, takes off in a submarine named USS Sawfish to find out the source of the signal while leaving behind Moira Davidson, his new love interest.
The rest of the film follows Towers and his friends as they try to find the source of the signal, and Towers reunites with Moira. On the Beach stars Ava Gardner, Donna Anderson, Anthony Perkins, Gregory Peck, Fred Astaire, and others.
Where to watch: Prime Video
4. Godzilla (2014)
Godzilla is a monster film based on the Japanese Godzilla Franchise. It tells the story of Joe Brody, who had sent his wife Sandra and her team to check unusual seismic activity in Janijra Nuclear Power Plant, Japan, in 1999, but something caused a meltdown in the reactor due to which Joe closed the door of the reactor before Sandra, and her team could escape.
Now in 2014, Joe is still trying to find the reason behind the meltdown of the reactor, which caused Sandra’s death in Janijra Nuclear Power Plant and getting caught by the authorities. Ford, Joe’s son, and an EOD officer, is called to Japan, where Joe convinces him to find the data on the happenings of that day.
The duo meets Ishiro Serizawa and Vivienne Graham, who tells them that a big insect-like creature had caused the meltdown of the nuclear plant. The insect, also known as MUTO, had been trying to contact someone, which the scientists assumed was Godzilla, but it turned out to be a female, bigger MUTO.
Both MUTOs run free in the city, causing havoc before Godzilla appears, and the three have a battle. Who do you think won this fight? Godzilla stars Elizabeth Olsen, Ken Watanabe, Aaron Taylor Johnson, Bryan Cranston, and others.
Where to watch: Prime Video, Vudu, HBO Max
5. The Quake (2018)
The Quake is a Norwegian disaster film that follows the story of Kristian Eikjord, a geologist who saved Geiranger from a tsunami in 2016. His wife Idun and their children Sondre and Julia move to Oslo after Idun divorces Kristian three years later while he lives alone in Geiranger.
He travels to Oslo after finding out about Konrad Lindblom, a fellow geologist who had died in the Oslofjord Tunnel. There he meets with Konrad’s supervisor, who tells him that the seismic activity Konrad had been monitoring was from a construction blast. Unconvinced, Kristian visits Konrad’s house, where his daughter shows him everything Konrad has found about seismic activities.
Kristian finds out that the situation is direr than he had thought. He then visits Idun and meets his children before visiting the tunnel, where Konrad dies the next day.
Kristian soon finds out that an earthquake with an 8.5 reading is about to hit Oslo and goes to save his family before it’s too late. Will Kristian and his family make it out alive? The Quake stars Ane Dahl Torp, Kristoffer Joner, Kathrine Thorborg, Edith Sande and others.
Where to watch: Prime Video, Hulu, Vudu
6. Titanic (1997)
Titanic is an American disaster film based on the tragic events of RMS Titanic. It follows the story of Rose Dewitt Bukater, a 17-year-old who is engaged to Caledon ‘Cal’ Hockley as they board the Titanic along with Rose’s mother, Ruth.
Rose is disappointed with her arranged engagement with Caledon because she wishes to marry someone she loves, so she stands on the railing of the ship with the intention of jumping in the water. Jack Dawson, a poor lad who wins the ticket for Titanic while playing poker, sees Rose and coaxes her to come down from the railing, after which the two become friends and start spending time together.
Ruth and Cal look down on Jack, due to which Rose starts ignoring him but soon she realizes that she is in love with him, so they continue seeing each other.
The rest of the film follows Jack and Rose as they fall deeply in love and the chaos that ensues after Titanic hits an iceberg and starts to sink. It stars Rose Winslet, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kathy Bates, Billy Zane, Bernard Hill, and others. Titanic was a super hit grossing a total of 2.02 billion dollars against a budget of 200 billion dollars.
Where to watch: Prime Video, Disney Plus
7. Outbreak (1995)
The Outbreak is a disaster film starring Rene Russo, Dustin Hoffman, Donald Sutherland, Morgan Freeman, and others. It follows the story of a virus called Motaba, which was first found in the jungle of Africa in 1967. When U.S. Army officers Ford and McClinton found out about the virus, they bombed the camp to keep the virus a secret.
Now in 1995, Colonel Sam Daniels, a virologist, is sent to Zaire to investigate the virus that has spread there. Meanwhile, a capuchin monkey that was infected by the Motaba virus is brought into the country before getting stolen by Jimbo, who worked at the laboratory where the monkey was kept.
Jimbo intends to sell the monkey to Rudy, a pet-shop owner but after being unable to do so, leaves it in the woods. Jimbo catches the virus along with his girlfriend Alice and Rudy, and they all die.
The vial which carried Rudy’s blood accidentally breaks, causing the virus to spread like wildfire. The rest of the film follows Daniels as he finds out about the incident that happened in 1967 while also trying to find the monkey and a cure for the virus.
Where to watch: Prime Video, Paramount plus
8. The Day After Tomorrow (2004)
The Day After Tomorrow is a disaster film about Jack Hall, a paleoclimatologist whose research shows that an ice age could be caused due to climate change. He tells U.S. Vice President Raymond Becker about it, but he ignores Jack’s concerns.
Later, Jack is contacted by Terry Rapson, an oceanographer who tells him that a sudden drop in temperature has been noticed in the Atlantic Ocean, which leads them to believe that Jack’s theories about the ice age are true, but Becker still doesn’t believe him.
When the temperature of the northern hemisphere drops to -150 degrees Fahrenheit, all hell breaks loose as people freeze to death while others try to keep themselves warm. The Day After Tomorrow stars Jake Gyllenhaal, Emmy Rossum, Dennis Quaid, and others.
Where to watch: Prime Video, HBO Max, Vudu
9. Children of Men (2006)
Children of Men is a dystopian thriller film starring Clive Owen, Michael Caine, Julianne Moore, Charlie Hunnam, and others. The film is set in a world where humans have become infertile, leaving humanity on the brink of extinction.
It follows the story of Theo Faron, a bureaucrat, as he is kidnapped by an immigrant rights group, Fishes, led by his ex-wife Julian Taylor who asks him to get transit paper for a woman using his connections in exchange for money.
Theo agrees and, after getting the papers, escorts the woman named Kee along with Julian and some other men. Julian gets killed by some people who ambushed them, but Kee, Theo, and the others reach the Fishes base. Kee tells Theo that she is pregnant.
Theo decides to flee the Fishes base after eavesdropping on Luke’s earlier discussion and heads to his old friend Jasper Palmer’s house. There they find out about a ship named ‘Tomorrow’ and decide to take refuge on it.
Luke finds out about Jasper’s house and reaches there while Theo, Kee, and Miriam escape onto a bus for Bexhill, where the ship is. The rest of the film follows Theo as he makes it his mission to help Kee and her baby reach the ship safely.
Where to watch: Prime Video, Peaco*ck TV, Vudu
10. Dawn of the Dead (2004)
Dawn of the Dead is a horror film that follows the story of Ana as she returns home and goes on a date night with her husband, Luis while missing very important news on the bulletin. The next morning, her husband is killed by a girl who turns him into a zombie, while Ana escapes in her car and crashes.
Later she joins four other people, Kenneth, Michael, Andre, and his pregnant wife Luda, as they enter a mall and are saved from a zombie by three guards. Several other survivors come into the mall to take shelter.
The group comes to know of a place where they can take refuge and make their way through the hoard of zombies to reach the local marina. Will the group reach Lake Michigan safely, or will they be bitten by zombies before turning into zombies themselves?
Where to watch: Hulu, Prime Video
11. 28 Days Later (2002)
28 Days Later is a post-apocalyptic film about a courier boy Jim who wakes us from a coma after 28 days of a virus infestation. The virus known as ‘Rage’ causes people to lose control of their thoughts and become blind to rage.
Jim goes out on the streets, where he is attacked by infected people but is rescued by Selena and Mark, two survivors. Jim and Selena meet a taxi driver Frank and his daughter Hannah who insists that they should go to Manchester to take refuge; Jim and Selena agree.
The rest of the film follows Jim, Selena, and Hannah as they try to escape infected and find a safe haven in order to survive the pandemic caused by the ‘rage’ virus. 28 Days Later stars Cillian Murphy, Megan Burns, Naomie Harris, Brendan Gleeson, Christopher Eccleston, and others.
Where to watch: Vudu, Prime Video
12. The Quiet Earth (1985)
The Quiet Earth is a post-apocalyptic film about Zac Hobson, who is a scientist working on Project Flashlight. One day, Zac wakes up to find himself alone on the entire planet since he is unable to contact other humans in any way.
He finds a recording of himself that says, ” project flashlight has malfunctioned, causing devastating results, and I might be the only human left on Earth.” After that, Zac loses his mind and does stupid things like talking to cutouts and declaring himself as God. But soon enough, he becomes sane again.
One day, Zac comes across a woman named Joanne, and the two form a relationship before a man named Api appears, which causes a love triangle between the trio. But what matters to Zac is the reason why they were the only survivors of The Effect of his project.
He soon realizes that all three of them are on the brink of death when a red beam appears. Zac also realizes that a second Effect is bound to happen, so to stop that, he decides to destroy the Delenco facility. Will Zac and Joanne have a happily ever after, or will the second Effect get in the way? The film stars Alison Routledge, Bruno Lawrence, and Peter Smith.
Where to watch: Vudu, Prime Video
13. Don’t Look Up (2021)
Don’t look up is an apocalyptic film starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lawrence, Jonah Hill, Rob Morgan, Timothee Chalamet, Ariana Grande, and others. It follows the story of Kate Dibiasky and her professor Randall Mindy as they discover that an unknown comet is about to hit the Earth, which might destroy the entire planet.
They meet with President Janie Orlean and her son Jason who dismiss their discovery. Kate and Randall turn to the media to let the public know about the comet on a morning talk show, but they don’t get the response that they had expected.
Orlean’s scandal with Sheriff Conlon sparks the public’s interest, so to get the attention off of her, she announces that a comet is threatening the survival of humans on Earth. She also announces a project to destroy the comet using nuclear weapons, which is later called off by Peter Isherwell, a billionaire.
When the comet becomes visible from Earth, Randall and Kate reunite and organize a campaign called ‘Just Look Up’ to make people aware of the now visible comet threatening Earth. Will Kate and Randall succeed in getting the government to do something about the comet, or will Earth be destroyed by the comet?
Where to watch: Prime Video, Netflix
14. Armageddon (1998)
Armageddon is a disaster film that follows the story of Harry Stamper and his team of oil drillers as they are chosen to make a hole in the asteroid that threatens the existence of Earth and blast it with the help of a nuclear bomb.
For the mission, Harry, who owns an oil drilling company, and his team are trained for several days by astronaut Willie Sharp before they board their spacecraft. A meteor shower hits Shanghai and destroys the city just as the spacecraft Freedom and Independence take off. News of the meteor spreads to the public, causing chaos among them.
As the space shuttles reached the Russian Space Station Mir, things started to go downhill. One of the shuttles, named Independence, gets destroyed by debris killing everyone except three people.
When Harry and his crew begin drilling a hole in the asteroid, they come to the conclusion that they might not be able to complete their task before the asteroid reaches ‘Zero Barrier, ‘ which is a safe distance for the asteroid to blast off in order to keep Earth safe. Will Harry and his team be able to destroy the asteroid, or will the asteroid be the end of humanity?
Where to watch: HBO max, Prime Video, Vudu
15. The Perfect Storm (2000)
The Perfect Storm is a disaster film which tells the story of Captain Billy Tyne and his men as they take their boat Andrea Gail to catch fishes in order to prove themselves to their boss and the boat owner, Bob Brown.
As they surpass their usual fishing area and reach Flemish Cap, they successfully catch heaps of fish, causing their cooler to break down. They decide to head back so that they can reach the shore in time and sell the fish before they can go bad.
The rest of the film follows Tyne and his crew as they make their way to the shore amidst a dangerous hurricane. Will Tyne and his men be able to reach home safely and brag to Brown about the fishes, or will this day be the last day of their lives? The Perfect Storm stars Mark Wahlberg, George Clooney, Karen Allen, Diane Lane, Bob Gunton, and others.
Where to watch: Hulu, Prime Video
16. Volcano (1997)
The Volcano is a disaster film that tells the story of Los Angeles in 1997 as it experienced an earthquake. Mike Roark, the new director of Emergency Management, investigates the damages caused by the volcano and doesn’t find much.
Later, a seismologist Dr. Amy Barnes who believes that a volcano is building underneath the city, visits the storm sewer along with her assistant Rachel were another, stronger earthquake strikes, causing Rachel to fall to her death.
Due to the earthquake, a volcano starts to erupt in La Brea Tar Pits of Los Angeles, throwing lava bombs which destroys a lot of buildings. The rest of the film follows Mike and Amy as they try to stop the lava from destroying the city further by creating obstacles in its way and saving the people of Los Angeles. It stars Tommy Lee Jones, Gaby Hoffman, Anne Heche, Don Cheadle, and others.
Where to watch: Prime Video, Vudu
17. Avalanche (1978)
Avalanche is a disaster film that tells the story of David Shelby, who opens a ski resort in a place where avalanches often occur. He invites a lot of people to the opening of the ski resort, including his ex-wife Caroline Brace who had divorced him due to his controlling nature, his mother Florence, and a few figure skaters.
Later, Nick Thorne, an environmental photographer, tells people that the place is unsafe due to the heavy rainfall that is about to happen, but everybody ignores his warnings. David’s business partner becomes involved in a plane crash near the mountain, which causes an avalanche, and as a result, a lot of people get injured.
The rest of the film follows David and Nick trying to save people stuck in the snow due to the avalanche while the resort gets completely destroyed. Avalanche stars Rock Hudson, Robert Forster, Mia Farrow, Rick Moses, Jeanette Nolan, and others.
Where to watch: Prime Video
18. Zombieland (2009)
Zombieland is a post-apocalyptic comedy film starring Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Abigail Breslin, Emma Stone, Bill Murray, and others. It shows the United States after a virus turns people into zombie-like creatures, and the survivors are known by their city’s name.
One of the survivors is a college student who decides to head home to Columbus to check whether his parents are still alive. On the way, he meets a man named Tallahassee and decides to tag along with him.
Later, the duo encounters two con artists named Little Rock and Wichita, who steal their car and weapons and run away, but Columbus and Tallahassee find another car and follow them. The rest of the film follows Columbus, Tallahassee, Wichita, and Little Rock as they reconcile and head towards Pacific Playland, an amusem*nt park in Los Angeles and a safe haven for all the survivors.
Where to watch: Netflix, Prime Video
19. The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)
The Day the Earth Stood Still follows the story of an alien named Klaatu as he arrives on earth with an important message for the president. Upon arriving, he is shot by a soldier who thought that Klaatu was going to harm them and is taken to the hospital.
After getting treated, he asks Mr. Harley, the President’s secretary, if he needs to meet the President to deliver a very important message, but Harley declines his request. Klaatu then escapes to a boarding house where he lives with a widowed mother, Helen, and her son Bobby. Bobby shows him the city, including his father’s grave.
The rest of the film follows Klaatuas; he tries to understand the humans while also trying to relay his message to the humans of Earth before his robot can destroy the planet. The Day the Earth Stood Still stars Michael Rennie, Hugh Marlowe, Patricia Neal, Sam Jaffe, Lock Martin, and others. A remake of the film was also made in 2008, starring Keanu Reeves and Jennifer Connelly.
Where to watch: Prime Video
20. Twister (1996)
Twister is a disaster film that follows the story of Jo Thornton, who becomes obsessed with tornadoes after watching an F5 tornado in 1969 which had killed her father.
Now 26 years later, she chases storms while also creating devices to get accurate readings of a tornado before it occurs so that destruction and loss of life can be avoided. Jo’s husband, Bill Harding, who she was about to divorce, travels to Oklahoma in order to get the divorce papers signed by Jo and brings along his fiancée Melissa.
When Bill sees the capsule-like device named ‘Dorothy’ that Jo had created, he asks her to test it before his rival Jonas Miller who had stolen his idea of Dorothy, could launch it.
The rest of the film follows Bill, Jo, and their teammates as they test the prototype Dorothy with tornadoes of different intensities while also realizing that they still love each other. Twister stars Helen Hunt, Cary Elwes, Jami Gertz, Bill Paxton, Alan Ruck, and others.
Where to watch: Hulu, Prime Video
21. Deep Impact (1998)
Deep Impact is a disaster film in which Steven Spielberg worked as an executive producer. It follows the story of Leo Beiderman, a teenager and an amateur astronomer, as he sees something in space and sends its picture to Dr. Marcus Wolf, who finds out that it’s a comet.
While on his way to disclose this information to the public, he is met with an accident and dies. One year later, journalist Jenny Lerner finds out about the comet during another investigation and is told by President Tom Becker to be quiet about it.
Two days from then, Becker announced to the public that a comet named Worf Beiderman might hit earth in a year’s time, and they had been preparing an aircraft in secret to destroy the comet before it came in contact with Earth.
The mission takes place as planned, but the nuclear bombs end up splitting the comet into two pieces which are still headed toward Earth. Will the people survive this disaster, or will this be the end of the world?
Where to watch: HBO Max, Prime Video, Netflix
22. Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011)
Rise of the Planet of the Apes is a science fiction film about a chemist William Rodman who was developing a medicine to cure Alzheimer’s disease and experimented on chimpanzees. During an experiment, a chimpanzee becomes enraged and is shot dead while her infant is taken home by Will, who finds out that Caesar is intelligent due to the ALZ-112, which was injected into his mother while he was still in her womb.
After Caesar grows up, he starts to question whether he is Will’s pet or family member and is sent to an ape shelter after he accidentally hurts his neighbor while defending Charles.
The rest of the film follows Charles as he refuses to take any more medicine for his Alzheimer which leads to his death, and Caesar as he learns to conquer the Ape facility among the other apes while also making a plan to escape the facility and go to the jungle.
The film stars James Franco, John Lithgow, Freida Pinto, Tom Felton, Brian Cox, and others. The Rise of the Planet of the Apes is followed by two sequel films that premiered in 2014 and 2017, while a third sequel is set to air in 2024.
Where to watch: Disney Plus, Prime Video
23. King Kong (2005)
King Kong is a monster film about Ann Darrow, an actress who is hired for a movie directed by Carl Denham. The filming takes place on SS Venture towards Singapore, but it ends up getting lost before reaching Skull Island. Carl, Ann, and the rest of the crew venture onto the island and find strange creatures, including cannibals and a 25-foot-tall Gorilla known as Kong.
Ann gets kidnapped by the natives of the island to be offered to Kong, who gets obsessed with Ann. He kills most of the men who come to Ann’s rescue before Jack manages to take her away. Carl decides to take Kong to New York City by knocking him out using chloroform.
The rest of the film follows Kong as he wreaks havoc on New York City in order to find Ann and recapture her, which ultimately leads to his death. King Kong stars Naomi Watts, Adrien Brody, Colin Hanks, Jack Black, and others. A sequel to the film named Kong: Skull Island premiered in 2017.
Where to watch: Prime Video, Netflix
24. I Am Legend (2007)
I Am Legend is a disaster film that is set in a world where an experiment went wrong, resulting in 99 percent of the world’s population turning into vampiric creatures called Darkseekers who are sensitive to sunlight and feed on human flesh.
Robert Neville is a virologist living in Washington Square Park along with his German shepherd Samantha, wondering if any other human has survived this pandemic. He spends his days hunting for food and experimenting on rats to find a cure for the virus.
One day, the Darkseekers infect Sam which ultimately leads to her death. Neville becomes heartbroken and goes out to fight the Darkseekers in a rage and gets hurt.
He is saved by Anna and Ethan, two humans who take Neville to his house and tell them of a place called Bethel in Vermont where the rest of the survivors have taken shelter. Neville says that no such place exists and continues to create a cure and ultimately succeeds. Will this cure be able to end the global pandemic? The film stars Will Smith, Dash Mihok, Alice Braga, and others.
Where to watch: Prime Video, HBO Max, Vudu
25. Planet of the Apes (1968)
Planet of the Apes is a science fiction film about three astronauts who wake up from hibernation and find out that they have crash-landed on an unknown planet in the year 3978. Taylor, Landon, and Dodge travel through the wasteland before coming across a river with clean water and deciding to take a bath.
As they are swimming, armed gorillas appear and kill Dodge while knocking Landon unconscious and shooting Taylor in the throat before capturing both of them. They take them to Ape City, where Tayor gets treated and gets to know that the city was run by Orangutans, Chimpanzees, and Gorillas while the humans were either killed or treated like slaves.
Taylor is ordered to be killed but gets saved by an animal psychologist Zira along with a female human named Nova. He tries to convince Zira that he is as intelligent as they but doesn’t reveal his origins. The rest of the film follows Taylor and Nova as they find out that the planet they were on was, in fact, Earth which had turned into a wasteland after a nuclear war.
Where to watch: Prime Video, Hulu
Also read: 10 Post-Apocalyptic Movies That Every Sci-Fi Fan Should Watch
26. Final Destination (2000)
Final Destination is a horror film that revolves around Alex Browning, a high school student sitting in an airplane as he has a premonition that the plane is about to explode.
After realizing that the events from his visions are actually happening, he panics and gets into a fight with his rival, which causes them to get kicked out of the plane along with his girlfriend and some other people. As Alex saw in his premonition, the plane explodes, killing everyone onboard.
The rest of the film follows a series of events as all the survivors of the plane crash die one by one due while Alex tries to find the cause of the deaths of those people. Final destination stars Devon Sawa, Kerr Smith, Tony Todd, Ali Larter, and others. The film is a franchise followed by four sequels.
Where to watch: Prime Video, Netflix
27. Mad Max (1979)
Mad Max is a dystopian film about Max Rockatansky, who is a Main Force Patrol officer, as he chases a motorbike gang member and leads him to a roadblock resulting in the member’s death.
Other gang members, led by Toecutter and Bubba, go on a rampage, vandalizing properties. Max and another officer Jim ‘Goose’ Rains, arrest a member of their gang named Johnny and take him to court, but Johnny is deemed mentally ill, which allows him to leave.
What follows next is a feud between Johnny and Rains as Johnny tries to sabotage rains which result in Rain being severely hurt and sent to the ICU. After seeing Rain’s condition, Max decides to take a break and goes on a vacation with his family.
The rest of the film follows Max and his wife as they are chased by the gang members who want to kill them. Mad Max stars Mel Gibson, Steve Bisley, Joanne Samuel, and others. Mad Max was followed by three sequels.
Where to watch: Prime Video, Vudu
28. Night of the Living Dead (1968)
Night of the Living Dead is a disaster film that tells the story of a Pennsylvania which is haunted by undead ghouls. Barbara and Johnny are two siblings visiting a cemetery, where they are attacked by a man wearing tattered clothes.
The man kills Johnny while Barbara gets injured but manages to escape to a farmhouse, where she is saved by Ben, who shoots the man and his ghoul friends with the help of a shotgun before going inside the farmhouse.
Barbara comes face to face with two men, Tom and Harry, who had been living in the cellar of the farmhouse to be safe from the ghouls. The undead species continue to increase in number, so Ben makes a plan to escape the farm along with everyone.
But as Tom, his girlfriend Judy, and Ben go to a gas station to fill up Ben’s truck; it catches fire, killing Judy and Tom while Ben runs to the farmhouse. The rest of the film follows the rest of the survivors as they try to kill the ghouls in order to survive.
Where to watch: Prime Video
29. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)
Invasion of the Body Snatchers is a science-fiction horror film about Miles Bennell as he is taken to a psychiatrist, Dr. Hill, in Los Angeles and tells him the events that he witnessed before he got to the hospital. Dr. Bennell returns to his town Santa Mira after a trip to realize that the people of the town seem troubled.
They believed that their relatives had been replaced by their lookalikes which Dr. Bennell didn’t believe. One day, his former wife Becky and Bennell are called over by their close friend Jack who finds a dead body in his house.
Upon arriving, Bennell, Becky, and Jack look at the body and shockingly discover that it has no facial features or fingerprints but soon start taking Jack’s features. When Bennell calls another doctor to reveal this shocking occurrence, the bodies disappear.
Later Bennell, Becky, and Jack’s wife come to the conclusion that an extraterrestrial force has invaded the planet with pod seeds which are replacing humans with their replicas with no emotions. Soon the whole town is converted into motionless people while Becky and Bennell escape.
Where to watch: Prime Video
30. 10 Cloverfield Lane (2016)
10 Cloverfield Lane is a thriller film about Mitchelle, who leaves her house after having an argument with her fiance and is struck with something while driving before passing out. When she wakes up, she finds herself in a cement room with her leg injured and her arm chained to the wall.
A man named Howard enters the room and tells her that she is in the underground house that he built in order to be safe from the extraterrestrial beings that had invaded the planet. A third human named Emette is introduced to Mitchelle, who has doubts about what Howard said and tries to flee the house but sees something that convinces her to stay inside.
As the trio gets accustomed to their underground life, Mitchelle finds something suspicious and tells Emette about it. The two make a plan to escape the house, and Mitchelle starts creating a hazmat suit in order to survive outside.
The rest of the film follows Mitchelle as she successfully escapes Howard and discovers that aliens have indeed attacked the planet. It stars Mary Elizabeth Winstead, John Goodman, and John Gallagher Jr.
Where to watch: Paramount plus, Prime Video
31. The Impossible (2012)
The impossible is a disaster film that follows Maria Bennett and her family, which consists of her husband Henry and their three sons Lucas, Simon, and Thomas, as they decide to go on a vacation to Khao Lak, Thailand.
The family spends some quality time at the newly built Orchid Beach Resort. On December 26, a tsunami in the Indian Ocean reached the beach, drowning several people. Maria and Lucas come through the water and reunite while also saving a young toddler Daniel. They are taken to a hospital, where Maria is sent for surgery while Lucas helps other families search for their lost members.
Meanwhile, Henry, Simon, and Thomas have also survived the disaster. The boys are taken to safety in the mountains while Henry looks for Maria and Lucas. Henry meets Karl, who is also looking for his family, and decides to help Henry by letting him tag along with him.
At the end of the film, all members of the Bennett family arrive at the hospital and are reunited. The Impossible stars Naomi Watts, Tom Holland, Evan McGregor, and others.
Where to watch: Netflix, Prime Video, Vudu
32. Sunshine (2007)
Sunshine is a science fiction film set in the year 2057 when the Earth’s fire has died, and people on Earth are freezing. Eight astronauts are sent to space to reignite the Sun using a stellar bomb in a spaceship called Icarus II.
As the space shuttle is launched into space, the astronauts come across Icarus I, which was sent to reignite the Sun seven years ago. Capa, the ship’s physicist, recommends that they should commandeer Icarus I, but Mace, who was an engineer, disagrees, saying it is risky.
While intercepting Icarus I, four shield panels of their spaceship become damaged. Kaneda, the shuttle’s captain, and Capa decide to fix them, during which Kaneda is burned to death while Capa makes it inside safely.
The rest of the film follows the astronauts as they go through a lot of difficulties but manage to reignite the Sun and save Earth from freezing. Sunshine stars Chris Evans, Cillian Murphy, Rose Byrne, Cliff Curtis, and others.
Where to watch: Hulu, Vudu, Prime Video
33. Melancholia (2011)
Melancholia is a disaster film that follows Justine on her wedding day. As Justine and Michael arrive late to their wedding reception at her brother-in-law John’s castle, she notices a star named Antares Shining brightly.
The reception takes a bad turn as Justine’s divorced parents verbally fight with each other, and Justine finds herself distracted. Later, she feels that this is not what she wants with her life and falls into depression, with which she had been struggling for a while, and calls off her wedding with Michael.
The next day, Justine notices that the star Antares isn’t there anymore, to which John, who likes astronomy, explains that a rouge planet named ‘Melancholia’ had covered the star and now was headed towards Earth, but it won’t collide with Earth.
Upon hearing this, Claire becomes panicked and starts searching the web for the rouge planet. After a while, Melancholia goes past Earth without causing any damage, but later it is revealed that Melancholia has orbited a second time and now was headed straight toward earth. Will this be the end of Earth?
Where to watch: Prime Video, Hulu
34. Airplane! (1980)
The Airplane is a parody film that follows the story of Ted Striker, a former fighter pilot of WWII, as he boards a flight to win his former girlfriend and flight attendant Elaine Dickinson’s heart back. During the flight, the passengers get food poisoning along with the captain, who becomes ill and unable to fly the plane. Now Ted, everybody only hoped to get them to safety, but Ted had been scared of flying planes ever since the war.
Will Ted be able to overcome his fears to save the passengers’ lives and win over Elaine’s heart by becoming the hero, or will he succumb to his fear and be the cause of everybody’s death? Airplane! Stars Julie Hagerty, Robert Hayes, Robert Stack, Leslie Nielsen, and others.
Where to watch: HBO Max, Prime Video
35. Shaun of the Dead (2004)
Shaun of the Dead is a comedy apocalypse film about Shaun, an electronics salesman who is dissatisfied with his life as he wakes up one day to find out that a zombie apocalypse has befallen in London.
He makes a plan, along with his best friend and roommate, Ed, to save his girlfriend and mother, Barbara, from zombies. They pick up Philip, Shaun’s stepdad, who had been bitten, and Barbara from their house before heading towards Liz’s house.
Shaun and others are attacked by the zombies, which results in their car being damaged, so they take Philip’s Jaguar as Philip turns into a zombie and is killed. The rest of the film follows Shaun and others as they save Liz and her roommates before taking shelter in Winchester. Will Shaun survive this zombie apocalypse and reconcile with Liz, or will they turn into zombies?
Where to watch: Hulu, Netflix, Prime Video
36. The Thing (1982)
The Thing is a science fiction film set in the early winters of 1982 when a Norwegian helicopter chasing a sled dog is accidentally blown up by its passenger. Upon checking, the Americans find that everybody has died, and among the remains, a strange humanoid creature is also found and sent to the laboratory. After doing some research on the creature, they came to the conclusion that it could imitate anybody.
The rest of the film follows the creature as it slowly infects everybody in the laboratory while MacReady, the person in command, discovers more things about the creature and tries to destroy it before it ends up assimilating the entire country. The film stars Kurt Russell, Keith David, Wilford Brimley, Richard Masur, David Clennon, and others.
Where to watch: Prime Video, Vudu
37. The Birds (1963)
The Birds is a thriller film that follows the story of a high-status socialite Melanie Daniels as she meets Mitch Brenner and becomes attracted to him after he plays a prank on her in a pet shop. Melanie decides to gift him the love birds that he came to buy and goes to his farmhouse in Bodega Bay, where he spends the weekend with his family.
As she boards the boat which she had rented to reach Brenner’s house, she is attacked by a gull. Mitch helps her by applying for medicine on her wound and invites her to Cathy, his little sister’s birthday party, much to his mother’s dismay.
The rest of the film follows Melanie as she spends time with Mitch while people around town are being violently attacked and some killed by gulls. Later it became known that birds are attacking people everywhere in the world and not just in Bodega Bay. The Birds stars Rod Taylor, Suzanne Pleshette, Jessica Tandy, Tippi Hedren, and others.
Where to watch: Prime Video, Vudu
38. Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991)
Terminator 2: Judgement Day is a science fiction film set 10 years after the incidents of the 1984 film in which a cyborg named T-800 had failed to kill Sarah and her son John who was still in her belly. Now in 1995, John lives with his foster parents after Sarah is imprisoned in a hospital for her violent behavior.
Skynet sends a better and more advanced cyborg, T-1000, to terminate John when he was a child. In return, the human resistance sends a cyborg that looks like T-800 to save John.
The rest of the film follows Sarah, John, and T-800 as they try to outrun T-1000 in order to save the future of humanity. Terminator 2: Judgement Day stars Arnold Schwarzenegger, Edward Furlong, Robert Patrick, Linda Hamilton, and others. Terminator 2 was followed by four sequels and a tv series.
Where to watch: Prime Video, HBO Max
39. Gravity (2013)
Gravity is a science fiction film starring George Clooney and Sandra Bullock. It follows the story of two astronauts in a space shuttle called ‘Explorer’, which was commanded by Matt Kowalski, who boards the shuttle for the last mission before retiring, and Dr. Ryan Stone, who is boarding the shuttle for the first time.
The Explorer’s crew is warned about approaching debris and are told to leave for earth immediately, after which they lose communication with the control center in Houston.
The rest of the film follows Kowalski and Stone as they try to find another shuttle to reach Earth after their shuttle is damaged by the debris resulting in the death of the rest of the crew. Will Kowalski and Stone reach Earth safely, or will the debris come back and terminate any chance that they might have of reaching earth?
Where to watch: Prime Video
40. Jurassic Park (1993)
Jurassic Park is a science fiction disaster film that follows the story of John Hammond as he creates a Jurassic Park where clones of various dinosaurs are created by using the DNA of prehistoric beings.
John invites his two grandsons, along with several other people, to take a tour around the park. As his grandchildren get ready to see the wonders of Jurassic Park, an employee tries to steal a dinosaur but fails, which results in a blackout in the park. When that happened, all the dinosaurs of the park became free, causing havoc around the island.
The rest of the film follows John’s grandchildren and two others as they try to hide from the dinosaurs till help comes and takes them to safety. The Jurassic Park stars Sam Neill, Jeff Goldblum, Laura Dern, Martin Ferrero, Bob Peck, and others.
Where to watch: Hulu, Prime Video
41. The Martian (2015)
The Martian is a science fiction film that follows the story of an astronaut named Mark Watney as he gets stuck on Mars while his crew takes off after a sandstorm threatens to destroy their Mars Ascent Vehicle. Mark decides to make a plan in order to survive on Mars until Ares IV arrives four years from now.
He uses whatever resources he has to grow plants and waters them using water created by shuttle fuel. Meanwhile, on Earth, Mindy Park notices some movement on Mars through satellite images and realizes that Mark is alive.
Mark tries to find a probe named Pathfinder, which enables him to make contact with NASA, who tells him that they are sending supplies for him to rely on till Ares IV lands on Mars. The rest of the film follows the scientist as they try to save Mark while he tries to stay alive.
Where to watch: Prime Video, Vudu
42. Contagion (2011)
Contagion is a disaster film that follows the story of Beth Emhoff, who gets infected by a virus unknowingly in Macau and dies after having a seizure in Minneapolis. Her husband Mitch goes home from the hospital to find out that his stepson has also died. He goes into quarantine and finds out that he is immune to the virus and also quarantines his daughters.
Scientists try to identify the virus as it spreads like wildfire, killing a lot of people. They come to know that the virus originated from a genetic combination of a bat and a pig.
The rest of the film follows the public as they panic after hearing about the consequences of the virus while U.S. scientists try to find a vaccine for the virus that they named MEV-1. Contagion stars Kate Winslet, Marion Cotillard, Lawrence Fishburne, Matt Damon, Gwyneth Paltrow, and others.
Where to watch: Netflix, Prime Video
43. Deepwater Horizon (2016)
Deepwater Horizon is a Disaster Film starring Kurt Russell, Mark Wahlberg, John Malkovich, Dylan O’Brien, Gina Rodriguez, and others. The film tells the story of an oil drilling rig Deep Horizon as it fails to maintain the pressure causing a huge blowout that becomes the worst Oil disaster in US history.
Donald and Robert are two managers who send the workers assigned to check the integrity of recent work to their homes. As they were drilling mud using the rig, the operation went horribly wrong as it was revealed that the cement wasn’t strong enough, causing a blowout.
A lot of people among the crew lose their life, whereas several get injured due to the burning oil. Mike, the chief electronic technician, saves a few members before jumping into the ocean in order to save himself from being engulfed in flames. The Deepwater Horizon disaster, which happened in the Gulf of Mexico, lasted for 87 days.
Where to watch: Prime Video, Vudu
44. Black Sea (2014)
Black Sea is a disaster film that follows the story of Robinson as he is slacked off from his firm Agora and takes off to find a submarine that had sunk during WWII containing gold worth millions.
On his expedition, he is joined by Daniels, an executive of the company that is funding this mission, and Tobin, who might be Kurston and Robinson’s friend Blackie. With a crew of half-British and a half -Russian passengers, Robinson takes off in a Foxtrot-class submarine to find the gold.
The rest of the film follows the rising tensions between the crew members and the various difficulties that come Robinson’s way before they ultimately find the gold at the cost of most of the crew members’ lives. Will Robinson and whatever’s left of his crew take the gold, or will they die before doing so? Black Sea stars Jude Law, Ben Mendelsohn, Scoot Mcnairy, Konstantin Khabensky and others.
Where to watch: Prime Video
45. Greenland (2020)
Green Land is a disaster film that follows the story of John Garrity and his family as they find out that a life-threatening comet is about to hit Earth. John, his wife Allison, and their son Nathan are selected to board an evacuation ship as a piece of the comet is about to hit Florida.
They head to Robins Air Force Base, where they are supposed to board the flight, and upon boarding the flight, John realizes that he forgot Nathan’s diabetes medicine and goes back to retrieve it while Allison and Nathan are escorted off of the flight after they find out about his condition.
After John comes back and realizes that Allison and Nathan aren’t on the plane, he gets off and starts searching for them. Allison leaves a note saying that she left for her father’s house in Lexington and decides to head there as well.
Allison and Nathan hitch a ride with a couple who want to steal their bands to board the evacuation flight, so they leave Allison stranded and kidnap Nathan to act as his parents and board the flight, but they are denied access.
The rest of the film follows the family as they finally reunite and then head to an underground shelter in Greenland in order to survive the comet. It stars Gerard Butler, Roger Dale Floyd, Morena Baccarin, and others.
Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video
46. Attack the Block (2011)
Attack the Block is a disaster film about Samantha, who is mugged by a group of teenage thieves but is able to escape them when something falls out of the sky beside them. One of the gang members, Moses, realizes that it is an extraterrestrial and kills it before taking the remains to a drug dealer Hi-Hatz.
More objects come falling down from the sky with creatures that are much harder to kill. Moses and his group try to escape the scene and come across Samantha again while she is with the police and gets arrested for mugging, but the creatures kill the police while Samantha and Moses escape.
The rest of the film follows the extraterrestrial creatures as they chase Mosses while Samantha helps the gang members in trying to find a way to kill the aliens. Attack the Block stars John Boyega, Alex Esmail, Jodie Whittaker, Leeon Jones, and others.
Where to watch: Prime Video, Vudu
47. San Andreas (2015)
San Andreas is a disaster film starring Dwayne Johnson, Alexandra Daddario, Carla Gugino, Archie Panjabi, and others. The film follows Los Angeles and San Francisco as they are hit by massive earthquakes due to the San Andreas Fault.
Amidst the chaos, Ray Gaines, a helicopter pilot, saves his ex-wife Emma before heading to San Francisco, where his daughter Blake is on a trip with Emma’s boyfriend, Daniel. Blake gets stuck in Daniel’s car after an earthquake strikes, but Daniel leaves her there to save his own life. A couple saves Blake while Ray and Emma change vehicles after the helicopter gets damaged.
The rest of the film follows San Francisco as it records the biggest earthquake ever, which causes the whole city to collapse, killing millions while Ray and Emma try to save their daughter Blake. Will they succeed in doing so?
Where to watch: Prime Video, Vudu
48. 2012 (2009)
2012 is a disaster film starring John Cusack, Amanda Peet, Chiwetel Ejofor, Danny Glover, Oliver Platt, and others. The film starts with geologist Adrian Helmsley as he finds out that the Earth’s Core is heating up, which can lead to a disaster. He told the President of Washington, and in 2010, leaders from all over the world started building arcs with a capacity of carrying 1 lakh people to be prepared when a disaster strikes.
In 2012, Jackson Cutis, a struggling author, works as a chauffeur for Yuri Karov, a Russian Billionaire. During a camping trip in Yellowstone National Park, Jackson and his two children come across a theorist Charlie Frost who tells them about a conspiracy that the world is about to end, but Jackson chooses to ignore him.
Later as he is driving Yuri’s children, Alec and Oleg, to the airport, Alec tells him that he has tickets for a big ship which makes Jackson realize that Charlie was right and the world is doomed. The rest of the film follows Charlie as he tries to find a way for his family to survive when a massive earthquake hits at the beginning of the disaster.
Where to watch: Prime Video, Vudu
49. The Poseidon Adventure (1972)
The Poseidon Adventure is a disaster film that follows the passengers of SS Poseidon as it travels to Athens before retiring. The captain of the ship gets the news of an earthquake undersea, which may result in a tsunami. The ship soon hits something and starts to float upside down.
Scott believes that if they travel towards the engine room, they may survive and tries to convince the other survivors to come along with him, but only a dozen passengers agree to follow him. They use a Christmas tree to climb up while several explosions are heard downstairs as Poseidon starts to sink.
The rest of the film follows Scott as he leads the passengers through several difficulties towards the engine room in order to save their lives while the ship continues to sink and passengers die. The Poseidon Adventure stars Gene Hackman, Red Buttons, Ernest Borgnine, Shelley Winters, and others.
Where to watch: Prime Video, Vudu
50. Bird Box (2018)
Bird Box is a post-apocalyptic film about a pregnant woman Malorie Hayes as she finds herself stuck in the chaos caused by mass suicides. She takes shelter in a house with seven other survivors. Half of the group decided to get groceries and blindfold themselves in order to survive whatever was driving people insane.
Malorie and the others head to the grocery store where Charlie works in a car with black tinted windows using the GPS system. They make it back to the house without Charlie, who sacrificed himself. After Malorie and Olympia have given birth to their babies, Olympia lets in a strange named Gary, who uncovers the windows, making people look at the things, which results in them killing themselves.
Five years later, Malorie and Tom receive a transmission about a safe haven for survivors, and they decide to head there with the two kids Malorie named ‘Boy’ and ‘Girl.’
The rest of the film follows Malorie and the kids as they make their way to the safe place, blindfolded. Will they make it to the place, or will they be compelled to look at the creatures and kill themselves? Bird Box stars Sandra Bullock, John Malkovich, Trevante Rhodes, Sarah Paulson, and others.
Where to watch: Netflix
Also watch: 40 Best Sci-fi Films Like Will Smith’s ‘I Am Legend’
